[sk_pacer]

What the heck is DMSO?
I know it comes in a white bottle and is vet-related, but what does it actually do for a horse?

Chemically, it is di-methyl sulfoxide. It is actually a by-product of the pulp and paper industry and has been used as in industrial cleaner for years. I would imagine it made it's way into medicine via some maintenance worker noticing that his arthritis got better when he cleaned parts with this stuff.

[Ibex]

I don't know what it means (or what it feels like) to have my horse "in front of my leg". Um, about half of him is in front of my leg and the other half is in back of my leg, and I thought that was kinda the goal.

I also can't give an aid when a certain foot is in the air, or striking the ground, or beginning to move forward or any of that.

I could NEVER figure that one out until I started riding my coach's schoolmaster recently. No idea how to describe it, but it's definitely was a lightbulb moment. It just feels like you're sitting way further back, and the power is in front of you.

The part that gets me tho, is to have them in front of your leg, you want them OFF the forehand. I know it really does work that way, but written down it's very weird!

[GatoGordo]

I'm not very good on percentages of protein, fat, etc., or other nutrition things. I also don't remember much about species and stages of internal parasites.

DMSO can also be given via stomach tube or intravenously for "dummy" foals, concussions, encephalitides, and anything else causing swelling in the central nervous system. I've also seen it used for colitis/enteritis.

Ringbone is very difficult to deal with, IMO, with a grimmer prognosis, than, say, hock issues. It's managed in a similar way to hock arthritis, with some combination of joint injections, Legend, Adequan, oral supplements for those that wish, adjusted expectations, and a Bute and a day off when needed.

Vaccines:
Potomac Horse Fever -- if you're in an area where it's endemic, one booster early spring, another booster early summer; ask your vet whether it's seen in your area -- it's not just around the Potomac River, but has been seen in MN, CA, KY, etc.

Flu and Rhino -- depends on how much your horse is exposed to strange horses -- 2-4x/year

West Nile -- 1x/year, spring, around here, but we get our first hard frost in October or November. Some people do it 2x/year.

EEE/WEE (equine encephalitis) -- again, 1x/yr, spring, but in places with higher mosquito populations, 2x/yr

Rabies -- 1x/yr, any time, except in some parts of the West where it is nonexistent

Tetanus -- 1x/yr, any time

Some people vaccinate for strangles, but the vets I've worked for don't recommend it routinely.

Some people vaccinate for botulism, usually those whose horses are fed off of round bales.

I could go on for hours about a lot of random medical things.

[Sakura]

I can't feel OR see diagonals, despite the fact that I've been riding since before I could walk. When I showed in IHSA equitation classes in college, my teammates stood at the ingate and gave me the thumbs up/ down. Before that, my mom did it. Dumb, huh?

It also took me a really embarassingly long time to figure out how to read a mercury thermometer.

"Rise and fall with the leg on the wall" is a helpful little rhyme for posting on the correct diagonal ... When the outside shoulder is forward your butt is up, when it is back your butt is down in the saddle .

[Renn/aissance]

Back when I was a wee lass, our pony camp always had us take apart and put back together a bridle, blindfolded. Whoever did it fastest got a Hershey bar.

I would have loved to do that! We had races, but no prizes. When I'm working with the little camp kids I always have races to put bridles back together at the end of the week. It's a disaster enough as it is- I think blindfolded it would be more of a mess! I swear, no matter how many time you tell them, they still attach the noseband to the throatlash...

For the love of God, someone PLEASE tell us how to poultice! I don't know either!

Ingredients:
Poultice. (This is important.)
Rubber/latex gloves (optional)
Brown paper (grocery bags work well)
Bandage quilts
Standing bandages
Hot water

1. Tie up the tail. Poultice is messy and you do not want it in the tail because then it will get swished all over you and your horse.

2. Cut the brown paper into rectangles the same width as your horse's cannon bones, long enough to wrap at least twice around your horse's leg. You may also want smaller rectangular strips to cup the fetlock joint. Let the paper soak in a bucket of hot water.

3. Make sure your horses legs are clean; if you shampoo, make sure all the soap has been washed away. Wet down your horse's legs.

4. Don gloves if you have them, then dip your hand into the poultice bucket and pull out a big glop. Warm this in your hand for a moment so that it will slide onto your horse's leg easier. Then stroke your hand down the horse's leg to apply a thick coat of poultice. You want it approximately a quarter to half an inch thick all around.

5. Once you're done poulticing, take off your gloves and grab the brown paper rectangles. Wrap them around your horse's legs like bandages, on the inside towards the nose. If you applied poultice down and under the fetlock joint you may want to cup the joint with the smaller rectangles so that you don't get poultice all over your bandages.

6. Standing-bandage your horse's legs.

7. Some poultices should be left on longer than others; a general average is 24 hours. Check the label. When you go to remove the poultice, it will either be damp or dry. With some poultices, being damp is a good thing. Others, you want to be dry. Check the label on this too. Usually you can pull off bits of poultice with your bare hands and then wash the dust off of the horse's legs, but if the poultice is still wet, you may want to gently scrape it off with a hoofpick. Stick newspaper or something under your horse's legs while you're removing poultice because if you grind poultice clay into rubber matting, it may very well stay there.

8. Hope you don't have to have too much practice.

Exactly WHAT is the difference between a full seat, half seat and two point?

In full seat, the weight in your seat is distributed evenly on your seat bones. In half seat, the weight is primarily on your crotch and sometimes upper thigh. In two-point contact your seat has no connection to the saddle.

I should know what product my horse was last wormed with. I swear I wrote it down in his book. Apparently I didn't.

[JCS]

I'm quite amused at the number of different phrases people have come up with to help them remember the proper order of dressage letters. The one I was taught: All King Edward's Horses Carry Many Bloody Fools.

My favorite: "All King Edward's Horses Canter Merrily Bucking Freely."

This thread is so educational. I've learned so much that I never knew but didn't know who to ask...

[shade]

excellent poultice post Renn...I was going to post but you beat me to it..LOL..

Also if when you pull the paper off and find wet spots those indicate areas of heat. And for the life of me I can't remember why I've poulticed with saran wrap..but there is a reason.

Someone asked how to tell if tendon boots were on tight enough. Pull the straps until you feel the elastic kick in, then back off a smidge. That way they'll be tight enough but not too tight. Hope that makes sense.

[Jaegermonster]

Actually "Digital Pulse" is also correct, and the more commonly used term, as the pulse is taken from the "Digital Arteries" in the horses pasterns.

Oh, I had always heard distal as in the farthest from the heart. I guess I just always think of Digits as fingers . Whatever you call it, I still can't feel it.

[naters]

I'm sure that there are more than a few of us out there that feel we should know certain things about horses, but are too embarrased to admit that we don't.

I am a horse professional, but admit there are some basic things that I *know* I should know, but don't. So here's the thread: Don't be ashamed to ask because no one will judge. Those of you who know the answers, feel free to answer. Ask your stupid questions away!!!

I'll start:
1) I can never remember what a horses' vision is (blindspots, etc.) and what colors they see and don't see (if any).

2) Why the heck does the elastic part of the girth have to be on the mounting side? Never made much of a difference to me.

Anyone else?

Girth: It doesn't... I put mine on the opposite side for my conveinience, and so that my billets stretch evenly, and so that I am not constantly pulling on one side or another.

[KaraAD]

Tribrissen or something more aggressive is given for puncture wounds or more aggressive infections.

Tribrissen is a brand name for a Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole so it has SMZs in it. Generally my vet perscribes Tribrissen fairly interchangeable with SMZs. The advantage of Tribrissen is that the company sells it in paste form. You generally administer one full tube (depending on the weight of the horse) once per day. With SMZ you generally have to give it twice a day but SMZ pills are alot cheaper.

[SuperSTB]

Average Pulse: 36-42 beats per minute. You can feel it under/the side of their jaw,as well as in the pastern (digital pulse)
Average Respiration: 8-16 breaths per minute
Average Temp: 100.5
Healthy Temperature Range: 99.0-101.0

Horse's blindspots are directly infront and directly behind. The colors they can see (as far as I know) is still an ongoing debate. I remember a recent Equess discussed the posibility of them seeing every color we see, except muted. Think pastel.

I went to staples- bought a package of those cheap business cards for the printer. On the computer type up for one side of the business card the vitals (info above) and on the backside typed up the local emergency contact info for the vet, farm, farrier.
Printed and laminated the cards- attached a keychain loop and gave them out to everyone at the barn. Easily attached it inside the tack truck or in the first aid box.

I have them everywhere- in the tack trunk, the door of the truck, hanging by the feed and in the grooming bucket.

[naters]

Those of you who can't wrap legs - I too had this problem. I had lots of people try to explain it to me in lots of different ways. Never worked. Had to come up with my own method - when wrapping the right leg, you should be wrapping clockwise around the leg, and when wrapping the left you should wrap counter-clockwise around the leg. Maybe it will help you?

When wrapping the horses (ie standing in front of him, or facing the same direction he is?) right leg, you should be going clockwise (question: the toe being 12 o'clock, and the heel being six o'clock?)?
Thanks!

[good booie]

Someone once told me a long time ago to wrap the leg the way the hair grows on your arm on that side. Never questioned myself after that.

[Pirateer]

I know a lot of stuff, but there is one thing especially that gets me.

Blankets. Seriously. Having never owned a horse, and just dealt with what was on the horse, the temperatures that require blankets/blanket changes confuse the heck out of me. I have learned the difference between Fill and Denier (go me!) but what fill for what temp is just....too much.

Mostly I just copy what other people do and base it off of what coat I'm wearing.

(that said...I can poultice, wrap, give shots (IM anyway), braid, etc....)

I have never officially cleaned a sheath. Udders, yes. Picked at a sheath when grooming? Yes. Scouted for Bean? nope.

[eclipse]

Please tell me I am not the only one that just nods my head in agreement,
when my trainer says "do you feel that? Now doesn't that xxxx feel better?" Of course, I have no earthly idea what she's so exited about, as I can't feel a damn thing different!!

[naters]

Someone once told me a long time ago to wrap the leg the way the hair grows on your arm on that side. Never questioned myself after that.

Oh, man ... what??!!! I don't get it!! the way my hair on my arms grows is from inside (thumb side) to outside (pinky side).

But isn't that the opposite of what the "clockwise/counterclockwise" person just said?

[Simkie]

I'm surprised people have a hard time remembering how to wrap!

If you're wrapping the left, start your polo on the inside. Anchor the end with your right hand--you will be cupping the tendon. The roll of the polo will be in your left hand.

If you're wrapping the right, start with the polo on the inside. Anchor the end with your left hand--you will be cupping the tendon. The roll of the polo will be in your right hand.

If you start wrapping on the inside, the roll of the polo will always be towards the horse's head before you start actually wrapping.

Here's a crude diagram of what you see when you begin to wrap: http://pets.webshots.com/photo/21027...48290005HNlpyI Helpful?

[4cornersfarm]

I don't know how to drive a gooseneck trailer. I learned how to drive a trailer pulling one off our tractor when I was 13, which was um, 31 years ago, and I can put a regular tagalong trailer anywhere, any time, but I have never driven a gooseneck. Everyone says it's easier, but when I look at those long monsters I feel faint. And I've towed a three axle four horse tagalong Kingston - now that was a long trailer!

[Twilight]

I blame my inability to wrap on my left-handedness. I must not hold the bandage facing the correct way or something because I get it backward each and every time.

Yes, what I don't know would fill volumes - but one thing I really have absolutely no clue or concept of how to execute is a leg yield or shoulder in or whatever that thing is called. Can't do it even if I was facing a firing squad.

[Amber_M]

-I have no clue what horses need to be fed. Like, all of the percentages and crap give me a headache.

-I can hardly tell if my horse didn't get a lead change in the back.

-I suck at finding distances to fences.